Merchandise buying technique by Arisa Nishio

2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spring QTR

NORDSTROM

FM 238 Merchandise Buying Technique, Final Project| Arisa Nishio

Table of Content Purchase Plan and GANTT Chart .................................... 2 Persuasive Defense ............................................................. 6 Competitors ....................................................................... 10 Customer Analysis ............................................................. 15 Marketing Goals ................................................................ 29

Purchase Plan We are going to order 79 pairs of leather boots in total; MEIR is 38 pairs and FLIP is 41 pairs on the first of beginning of month inventory. Also, we re-order 1 pair of each style in the middle of the season. MEIR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Retail price, $231.06 (including tax)

Color: Mustard, Anthracite FLIP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Retail price, $283.24 (including tax)

Color: Camel, Dark brown, Black

8,901.89

AUGUST 2

8,601.51

SEPTEMBER

3,139.39

246.06

2,593.02

8,901.89

SEPTEMBER

1,694.65 $

102.13

923.91

9,570.50 $

AUGUST

*Notice: Reorder 1 more pair each MEIR and FLIP in November

9,570.50 $

FLIP

End of Month Inventory

86.65 693.28 $

Open-to-Buy

JULY

Markdowns

259.95 $

MEIR

Sales

9,917.18 $

JULY

COST OF GOODS

Beginning Month of Inventory

6 MONTH OPEN TO BUY

9,757.11

3,370.24

OCTOBER 8

4,525.84 $

860,151.00

OCTOBER

Shoe Department Brand - Fly London

NOVEMBER 10

9,468.20

7,845.91

2,148.93

5,408.07

9,757.11

DECEMBER

Total Markdown%

9,757.11

4,057.55 $

1,361.59 $

4,462.01

9,757.11

NOVEMBER

21.71%

3,945.36

18,172.80

946,820.00

SEASON ENDS

Packing Strip for Long Boot [Street Address]

DATE

[City, ST ZIP]

CUSTOMER ID

2015/8/4 [12345]

Phone: [000-000-0000] Fax: [000-000-0000] Website:

BILL TO:

SHIP TO:

Shoe Department

Nordstrom

500 Pine Street

Seattle, WA 98101

206.628.2111

ORDER DATE

ORDER #

PURCHASE ORDER #

CUSTOMER CONTACT

2014/5/1

[123456]

Purchasing Dept.

ITEM #

STYLE

COLOR

SIZE

DESCRIPTION

P210602003

FLIP

CAMEL

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

CAMEL

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

CAMEL

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

CAMEL

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

CAMEL

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

CAMEL

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

DARK BROWN

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

DARK BROWN

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

DARK BROWN

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

DARK BROWN

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

DARK BROWN

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

DARK BROWN

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

BLACK

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

BLACK

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

BLACK

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

BLACK

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

BLACK

129.33

P210602003

FLIP

BLACK

129.33

5,302.53

6.50%

5,647.19

TOTAL:

[ 42]

Sales Tax:

ORDER QTY

PER COG

COMMENTS: Backordered items will ship as they become available

Packing Strip for Short Boot [Street Address]

DATE

[City, ST ZIP]

CUSTOMER ID

2015/8/4

Phone: [000-000-0000] Fax: [000-000-0000] Website: BILL TO:

SHIP TO:

Shoe Department

Nordstrom

500 Pine Street

Seattle, WA 98101

206.628.2111

ORDER DATE

ORDER #

PURCHASE ORDER #

CUSTOMER CONTACT

2014/5/1

[123456]

Purchasing Dept.

ITEM #

STYLE

COLOR

SIZE

P142990004

MEIR

ANTHRACITE

105.51

P142990004

MEIR

ANTHRACITE

105.51

P142990004

MEIR

ANTHRACITE

105.51

P142990004

MEIR

ANTHRACITE

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

ANTHRACITE

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

ANTHRACITE

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

MUSTARD

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

MUSTARD

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

MUSTARD

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

MUSTARD

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

MUSTARD

105.51

P14299004

MEIR

MUSTARD

105.51

TOTAL:

4,009.38

Sales Tax:

6.50%

4,269.99

[ 42]

DESCRIPTION

ORDER QTY

PER COG

COMMENTS: Backordered items will ship as they become available

Persuasive Defense The buying decision for our company, Nordstrom is that the Fly London has a great variety of colors and styles of shoes line, especially leather boots. So we are focusing leather boots line, and the price zone is going to be from around $200.00. 1 Major chain stores posted a 4.3% sales increase in May, 2014 compared with the same month a year earlier in figures released Thursday, beating analysts’ expectations of a 3.9% rise, according to Thomson Reuters’ tally of nine big retailers. Stripping out the effect of drug stores, last month’s retail sales were up 4.4%. 2 The trend in 2014 fall/2015 winter, dark colors like black, dark purple, army green, and cobalt blue will be a big trend. Shoes that combine the edge of a bootie with the elegance of a strappy heel are making a serious statement on high fashion runways. 3 Ocean-y blues are kind of out there, and in shoes we will see a lot of emeralds, coffee colors and wine hues.4

Source: Stylesight.com

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/womens-comfortboots?origin=leftnav#category=b60136773&type=category&page=1&defaultsize3=&size=&width=&color=& price=&brand=4847&instoreavailability=false&lastfilter=brand&sizeFinderId=8&resultsmode=&segmentId=0 2 http://fdra.org/latest-news/retail-sales-up-4-3-in-may/ 3 http://northeasternfashion.com/2014/04/05/preview-of-fall-2014winter-2015-shoe-trends/ 4 http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/markets/celebrity-stylists-talk-fall-shoe-trends-6914591?full=true

Source: Stylesight.com This is the color story from Stylesight that colors in fall and winter 2014 are very neutral and warm colors. From the purchase plan for boots, we have exactly same colors, black, camel, dark brown and brown. This is one of the colors for fall 2014, and we pick up this color for our boots purchase plan. These colors are very neutral and natural colors, and fit any colors of outfits.

Source: SIA Snow Show These photos from SIA Show show the trend of winter apparel in 2014. In this recap Stylesight highlights the overarching trends at SIA for both the skiing and snowboarding markets. Honing in on a directional perspective, this synopsis shines a light at all areas of snowsports, which include hardgoods, softgoods and key accessories. 5 In terms of materials, the FLY London range is more varied than ever before, we are dip-dyeing shoes in the entire summer palette, we are making them from waxed canvas, soft canvas, and a new range of chunky leathers that don't need lining, as well as favorites from the past like RUG and MOUSSE... the result is daring, fun and unique. The range is bigger than ever before but completely varied and never repetitive. 6 As far as the collection is concerned, Fly London very much represented the sports style of the 1990s. At that time we were highly successful with sneakers presented in striking materials and color combinations, presented as unisex versions for women and men alike. Also, because sportive styles were the general trend then. But being a brand going with fashion, Fly London should continue to be strong on new trends.7 Fly Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s style is now much more en vogue and offers a wider choice of versions. In this collection alone there are 47 lines, that it is fashion ranges for several target groups. 5

http://siasnowshow.snowsports.org/Attendees/A-Curated-View-of-Snow-Sports/ApparelAccessories/Stylesight-Trends 6 http://www.flylondonshop.co.uk/about 7 http://www.gdsonline.com/cipp/md_gds/custom/pub/content,oid,10242/lang,2/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/~/Fly_London.html

Offering such considerable output bandwidth, Fly London is successful in attracting male and female customers in the age group from 20 to 70. That really is phenomenal. 8 In addition to cool sneakers there are shoes for ladies with more extravagant banana heels, that is, curved block heels, as well as elegant ladies booties. The latter, with their buttons on the side, bring back memories of the gaiter boots worn during Queen Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time. In total, we present much more color than in previous seasons. In the final analysis, many influences shape the character of this collection â&#x20AC;&#x201C; last but not least because of our international team of designers, a team of six, coming from the United Kingdom, Israel, the United States and Italy. 9 Today, we are acting global - from the United States to Japan. Britain continues to be our main market with 600 sales points. But I do believe that our success is not only due to the great offer in our collection. A character of its own is at least equally important. Thus, the fly embossed on each of our shoes also makes for a high recognition value. 10

IBID IBID 10 IBID 9

SWOT Analysis Through the SWOT analysis, we figure out competitors in Seattle area, and then how we are going to utilize buying strategies other business strategies. We explored Seattle area that there are several small local boutiques which are “Clementine”, “Sole Food”, and “Queen Ann Dispatch”. These boutiques carry same brand as same as our store, so we consider these boutiques are competitors. Clementine

Sole Food

Queen Ann Dispatch

Strengths

Weaknesses

Our store

 Narrow and deep assortment

 Competitive area

 Nordstrom VISA credit cards and a

 Poor supply chain 13

debit card for the Nordstrom purchases, the customers can participate in the company's loyalty program 11  A 30-day return policy for merchandise purchased 12

 More products return Competitors  Competitive area (Sole Food, Queen Ann Dispatch)  Small stocks (All)

Competitors  Breadth assortment (Sole Food)  More unique variation of shoes’ colors (Clementine, Queen Ann Dispatch)  Providing great customer services (Clementine)  Selling latest shoes faster (Queen Ann Dispatch)

http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/306343_GDRT31838FSA http://www.myexchangereturns.com/nordstrom-returns/ 13 http://www.wikiswot.com/SWOT/4_/nordstrom.html 12

Opportunities

Threats

Our store

 More visibility through advertising and customer focused services14  High quality of technology purchase system for customer service Competitors

 Emotional connect with customer might decline 15  The company faces competition local retailers that offer similar lines of merchandise. The major competitive

 Decreasing cost of goods (All)

factors include customer service, fashion

 Selection of vendors’ choices(All)

newness, breadth of selection, and quality of products, store environment, locations and convenience. 16  Increasing sales tax Competitors  Poor quality of technologies (All)  Increasing sales tax (All)

http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/4917-nordstrom.html IBID 16 http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/306343_GDRT31838FSA 15

Other Competitors at Our Company, Nordstrom Since our company carries various brands, we consider that we have few brands, and they have similar styles, price zone, and other features. 1. Frye Frye has very similar style of leather boots as Fly London has. Most of the styles are kind of influenced Western styles, but they also add modern styles. Also, color selection of Frye is very similar taste. The average price zone of leather boots of Frye is a little bit more expensive that Fly London.

Source: Nordstrom.com 2. Freebird by Steven Freebird by Steven has more Western styles, and they also have more casual taste. The color selection is basic colors, such as brown, black, and other some dark or light colors. Their color selection does not have wide range, but they have similar colors that Fly London has. The price is almost same zone as Fly London, so they are absolutely going to be a competitor.

Source: Nordstrom.com 3. Bed Stu Bed Stu also has Western styles, and the color selection is more neutral and natural colors. Some styles are very similar to Fly London. The price zone is in the same zone so that they are also a competitor.

Source: Nordstrom.com

Customer Analysis Demographic Analysis

Source: CLR Search This chart shows the population of female by different age group in Seattle area (98101) that the most population group is age 25 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 34 female group. We consider that these people are included young

professionals and fashion people. The ratio of age 25 -34 female group is 19.87 % which covers almost 1/5 of the population by age.

Source: JPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Real Estate Charts, Seattle, Washington From 1990, the house prices had been increasing until 2007 which is the most expensive house price. The house prices had been decreasing for few years and increasing again in 2013. The median home value in Seattle is $452,600. Seattle home values have gone up 9.8% over the past year. 17 The median list price per square foot in Seattle is $326, which is higher than the Seattle Metro average of $176. The median price of homes currently listed in Seattle is $425,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $421,835. The median rent price in Seattle is $1,781, which is higher than the Seattle Metro median of $1,550. 18 Seattle-area homes got 1.9 % more expensive from month to month. Seattleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prices

17 18

http://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa/home-values/ IBID

increased 0.6 % from January to February in 2013. The median sale price of homes in Seattle in March was $312,000, according to Redfin, an 8 percent increase from March of last year. 19

Source: Washington State Employment Security Department Washington State’s unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point in January to 6.4 percent, its largest single monthly drop in four years.20 The state’s economy added only 3,800 jobs during the month, down from a seasonally adjusted gain of 6,700 jobs in December. Still, the state Employment Security Department took a more positive, long-term view. Without adjusting for seasonal variations, the labor market grew by 61,400 jobs statewide over the past year. 21 Despite recent declines in the statewide labor force, Washington still has about 3,500 more people in its pool of available workers than before the recession, offsetting the recovery’s net gain of 4,000 jobs. 22Seattle’s jobless rate fell despite a loss of 3,600 jobs during the month. The biggest loss locally was in manufacturing, which cut 2,600 jobs, including 1,500 in the aerospace sector. The region’s service economy shed 2,100 jobs, led

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2014/05/seattle-home-prices-continue-theirupward-climb.html http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2023051911_joblessjanxml.html 21 IBID 22 IBID 20

by financial activities, down 1,100; and government, down 1,800. On the upside, professional and business services added 1,200 jobs in January, while construction generated 1,100 new jobs. 23

2010 Employment by Job Type for

Seattle, WA

Civilian Population (Age 16+)

98101

Washington

United States

White Collar

91.74%

76.32%

74.72%

Blue Collar

8.26%

23.68%

25.28%

Management, Business, and Financial

23.76%

16.63%

16.09%

Professional and Related

27.67%

22.92%

21.78%

Sales and Office

25.03%

25.54%

26.38%

Service

16.51%

13.59%

13.50%

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

0.16%

1.12%

0.51%

Construction, Extraction, and

1.46%

8.84%

8.85%

5.42%

11.36%

12.88%

Operations

Maintenance Production, Transportation, and Material Moving

Source: CLR Search Workforce Statistics: The Workforce breakdown is derived from data, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). White Collar Employment: perform tasks that are considered less physically laborious. Blue Collar Employment: perform tasks that are manual, technical labor or are in technical maintenance "trades". Civilian Employers (Population Age 16+): This data represents 2010 employment by type of employers for the total civilian population, over age 16. Employment by Industry: This data represents 2010 employment by industry for the total civilian population. 24 In Seattle area (98101), the number of employees is 10,760 which is 0.21% of Washington State

23 24

IBID http://www.clrsearch.com/98101-Demographics/

(5,094,703). White collar workers are 91.74% which is higher than average of Washington State and United States. Management, business, and financial operations, professional and related, and sales and office are the highest percentage of occupations in Seattle area (98101). Source: CLR Search

The education level in Seattle area is pretty higher compared to Washington and United States. The completed Bachelors Degree is the most in Seattle area. In Seattle about one in six adults in 1970 had at least a bachelor's degree, among the national leaders for big cities then. By 2000, that figure had jumped to nearly one in two adults. And over the next four years, according to Census Bureau estimates, the number of college graduates in the city increased from 193,000 to about 215,000. 25But 10 percent of Seattle's adult residents lacked a high-school diploma, a slightly higher share than Snohomish, Pierce or

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002923946_cities11m.html

suburban King counties.26 Seattle's walls are flanked with diplomas: the city's composition of college graduates ranks tenth in the country. 27 2010 Household Income Statistics

Seattle, WA

Washington

United States

$528,315,837

$200,967,927,503

$8,877,041,207,141

Median Household Income

$34,219

$60,070

$55,970

Average Household Income

$71,646

$76,388

$74,974

Per Capita Household Income

$47,315

$29,932

$28,779

98101 Total Area Household Income

Source: CLR Search The median household income is $34,219 which is pretty lower than Washington and United States so that the civilians in Seattle area (98101) might not have much discretionary income. Per capita household income is $15,000 more than Washington and United Status.

26 27

IBID http://www.seattletimescompany.com/advertise/market/03.spring/cover.htm

Psychographic Analysis 2010 Quality of Life Indexes

Seattle, WA

Washington

United States

98101 Quality of Life Index

152

100

Amusement Index

173

119

100

Culture Index

199

131

100

Earthquake Index

372

217

100

Education Index

158

100

Medical Index

151

100

Mortality Index (All Causes)

183

100

Religion Index

138

100

Restaurant Index

199

100

Weather Index

146

100

Source: CLR Search This is the Quality of Life Index shows the various components and indicates lifestyles. In Seattle area (98101), this area is more diverse and melting pot compared to Washington and United States. Amusement, medical and restaurant are higher than Washington and United States, so this area is enriched with them. Seattle is a vibrant metropolitan hub in a stunning natural setting. The city offers a wide range of housing options, exceptional arts, sports and entertainment opportunities, an abundance of shops and restaurants and easy access to outdoor recreational activities in any season. Seattle is frequently ranked among top U.S. cities as judged by education levels, the number and quality of arts organizations, communications connectivity, international diversity and culture of innovation. 28

http://www.seattle.gov/oir/datasheet/quality.htm

Psychographic Chart Brands

Hobbies



Anthropology



Electronic

Spend time and chat



Apple

J.Crew

with people at cafés,



Windows



Banana Republic

bars and nice



DELL



Express

restaurants



Sony



Watching movies



Internet Surfing at coffee shops

 Store

Shopping

TVs

Magazines



Nordstrom



King 5 News



Vogue



Barneys New York



Grey’s Anatomy



Mary Quant



Local Boutiques



Criminal Minds



ELLE

Fashion Styles

Vehicles

Foods/Restaurants



Conservative



BMW



Asian Restaurants



Professional



Mercedes-Benz



Steak Restaurants



Casual



Volkswagen



Italian & French



Sporty

Restaurants 

Bars and cafés

Wired on more than coffee – Lattes and mochas aren't the only products keeping Seattleites wired. According to a 2002 Scarborough Research report, Seattle has the highest concentration of Internet users in the country. Additionally, Seattle is second only to Washington, D.C. in its concentration of online shoppers. 29 A powerful appetite – Seattle's hunger for fine dining keeps many of its restaurants at full capacity. Seattle is sixth in the country for composition of adults who have eaten at an upscale restaurant in the past thirty days. 30

29 30

http://www.seattletimescompany.com/advertise/market/03.spring/cover.htm IBID

The big screen: a big hit – What could go better with dinner than a movie? Seattleites head to the big screen regularly, as the area ranks ninth nationwide in the concentration of adults who usually see a movie within two weeks of its opening. 31

Prizm NE Prizm NE is the target segmentation that helps marketing people to figure out psychological part of area. It finds out what kind of people in particular areas. From Prizm NE research, we find out the particular groups in Seattle area (98101). The age group is a wide range, but 21-34 age groups are the most who are without children. First group of people is “American Dreams” who is in upper mid middle age family mix. American Dreams is a living example of how ethnically diverse the nation has become: just under half the residents are Hispanic, Asian, or African-American. In these multilingual neighborhoods--one in three speaks a language other than English--middle-aged immigrants and their children live in upper-middleclass comfort. 32 Second group is Urban Achievers who is lower mid younger mostly without kids. Concentrated in the nation's port cities, Urban Achievers is often the first stop for up-and-coming immigrants from Asia, South America, and Europe. These young singles, couples, and families are typically college-educated and ethnically diverse: about a third are foreign-born, and even more speak a language other than English. 33 Key Performance

Seattle (98101)

Tacoma (98409)

Mercer Island (98040)

Median Age

44.1

31.8

46.6

Median Income

$39,100

$41,200

$117,800

Consumer Spend

$43,099

$40,728

$70,875

Indicators (KPI)

($/HH) Source: Prizm NE

IBID http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=37&id1=1027&id2=29 33 http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=37&id1=1027&id2=31 32

Geographic and Behavioral Analysis Through the geographic and behavioral analysis, we figure out the characteristic of geographic and behavioral data. As we are going to sell Fly London leather boots, we research behavioral characteristics. The styles of Fly London that we are going buy are MEIR and FLIP. We consider that these boots are great for Seattle people and area.

RANK 1 2 3 4

METRO AREA San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose New York Washington, D.C. Seattle/Tacoma

WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SHOPPERS INDEX 76 71 54 33

Source: Scarborough Research, Multi-market 2012 Release 1, the Seattle Times Seattle has one of the highest percentages of women who spend big on clothing and shoes. Compared to the national average, Seattle-area women are 26 percent more likely to spend $500 or more in a year on their wardrobe. In addition, there are very few women here who are tight-fisted when it comes to clothes shopping. Out of 77 metro areas, Seattle has the sixth smallest percentage of women who spend less than $100 on clothing per year. As a result of these factors, women in Seattle place fourth in the nation on my Shoppers Index with a score of 33. 34 Source: NOAA Local Climatological Data, Seattle

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/fyi-guy/2012/10/31/is-seattle-the-countrys-worst-dressed-city/

This graph shows the average temperatures rainfall in Seattle. The average temperature from September to November, the highest average temperature is around 60 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 50 Fahrenheit, and the lowest temperature is 40 -48 Fahrenheit. We seek this season is the best time for wearing leather boots.

Source: About.com This chart shows that the precipitation and snowfall in the U.S. cities. Seattle/Tacoma area snows about 10.00; instead the precipitation is less than 40.00, still it is high precipitation. We seek that more people wear boots in rainy days. Since Seattle is one of the major rainy cities in the U.S., and the mean days of precipitation is 150 days. In rainy days, boots keep to dry feet even stepping into the puddles, and keep pace with pedestrian traffic. 35

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/05/how-to-use-an-umbrella/371017/

Source: SIA Snowfall This is the number of sales of winter items in 2013 that top selling apparel accessories are 3.6 million units for headwear, 4.5 million units for hand wear, and 3.5 million units for base layer. For womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winter apparel, fleece tops are 1.2 million units, insulated are 1.3 million units, and insulted bottoms are 539,400 units are sold in total. We consider these units sold are huge amount of winter apparel also as foot wears, especially boots. 26

Source: Seattle Bike Blog analysis of 2012 American Communities Survey data collected by the Census This table shows usage of transportation; the percentage of drive alone had decreased below 50% which means the number of public transportations, bicycles and walking have been increased. In 2011, 67.0 percent of workers in King County drove to work alone, compared with 76.4 percent nationally. Meanwhile, 10.0 percent of King County workers carpooled in 2011, while 9.7 percent in the nation carpooled to work. The percentages were not significantly different from one another. In 2011, 10.3 percent of all workers in King County used public transportation -- excluding taxicab -- to get to their job, compared with 5.0 percent in the nation as a whole. The county's public transportation rate was not significantly different from the percent that carpooled. About 1.5 percent of all workers in the county biked to work in 2011, compared with 0.6 percent nationally. 36As we research the climate chart above and the table of transportation data, we consider more people will wear more a pairs of boots.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb13-r12.html

Average Shoe Size Chart Country

Male

Female

United States

Size 9 (43)

Size 7 (39)

Canada

Size 10 (43.5)

Size 6.5 (38.5)

United Kingdom

Size 9 1/2 (43)

Size 7 (39)

China

Size 8 (41)

Size 5 1/2 (37.5)

Source: The Average Body.com This is the shoe size chart for several countries. According to the average body.com, we figure out the average shoe size of female in U.S. is size 7. As we going to order shoes, it is good to know the average of female shoe size and order based upon size 7.

Marketing Goals  The main goal for our brand “Fly London” is to exceed sales $18,000.00, and mark up percentage is to exceed 44%.  We plan to have 5 big sales in 6 months, and markdown percentage is arranged around 20%.  We have seasonal sales; July 4th sale (July), Back to school sale (August), Labor Day sale (September), Veterans Day and Black Friday (November), and Christmas and after Christmas sale (December) are sale from 10% - 30%.  We seek that we are going to sell about 72 pairs of boots which is 90% of our purchase from vendors by end of the season.